Along with the love of God, family and friends, our precious animals rate very high on our list. We have been blessed with the over flowing love, healing and strength of our Lord, Jesus Christ and it is with his blessing that we are able to live in the very midst of the things that we love most here at Lewis Mill Ranch.
Lewis Mill ranch is a small ranch with quaint barns, pasture, whispering pines and a small pond. It serves as home to Bobby and me, as well as our boys (dogs), miniature donkeys, miniature horses and the mystical Gypsy Vanner Horses.
All of our animals, the minis and the Gypsys are raised with much love and care. We are committed to the goal of bringing recognition, respect and true understanding to each breed; as well as sharing.
Since the late 1990’s, we have raised, bred and sold the wonderful, loving, compassionate miniature donkey AKA burros, donks, mini donks. We have and continue to concentrate on the best of the best in bloodlines and conformation; however, we do so now on a much smaller scale. Remember that the donkey is the only animal to “speak” in the bible; and, the breed carries the burden of the cross upon their back. They are special in that they are gentle and not aggressive.
The Miniature Horse though the size of a small pony retains the characteristics of the larger horse. They are friendly and interact well with people. They have an eager disposition & cute as buttons.
In the fall of 2007, while at the Vet’s office with one of my miniature donkeys, I saw a picture of a horse like none of which I had ever seen. My heart exploded at the sight of such a mystical and breathtaking specimen of a horse. I had to learn more about this breed. A breed of horse that was so stunning and magnificent with it’s heavy bone statue and apple like butt; all of this beauty and with HAIR! A lavish mane, tail and feathering beyond anything that I had ever seen. My research revealed this breed to be the Gypsy Vanner Horse of the United Kingdom. Their bonding nature, calm attitude, even temperament, and the fact that they had lived all of their lives with humans, made this “my kind of horse”, these are also known as Gypsy Cob, Tinker Horse, the Traveller’s Horse and Romany Horse.
Christmas 2007, I was blessed with Big Pine ranch Once in a Blue Moon, the grand daughter of The Gypsy King Stallion that The Thompson’s of Gypsy Gold imported to the USA in 1997/1998. Christmas 2009, I received Liberty Hill’s Lexie, grand daughter of “The Lion King”, now deceased. July of 2011 came LexLin’s The Real Roney from the linage of The Road Sweeper. Yes, we are blessed to own some of the rarest breed of horses now in North America.
Bobby and I thank the gypsy people of UK for allowing others to share in the treasure that years of breeding and care has produced, “one of the World’s most colorful and least understood breed”; and The Gypsy Vanner Horse Society for their mission “to bring honor, recognition and a better understanding”…; but, most of all, we thank our Lord, our God for his blessings.